Mike Sorensen: We're learning so much about college football

Another week of college football is in the books and we're learning so much as the season heads into October . . .

So much for the Mountain West Conference's superiority over the Western Athletic Conference. In two head-to-head games among middle-of-the pack foes from the two leagues Saturday night, the WAC came out on top with Idaho beating Colorado State 31-29 and Nevada crushing UNLV 63-28. BYU did beat Utah State as expected Friday night and San Diego State beat New Mexico State 34-17 Saturday night, but the latter isn't a big deal because everyone beats New Mexico State. Oh wait, I forgot. Everyone except the MWC's New Mexico, which lost to the Aggies last week . . .

So much for Mike Sanford staying on another year at UNLV. After the devastating defeat, he's now 0-for-5 against his in-state rival and 13-39 overall in four-plus seasons. The Rebels' defense gave up 773 yards of total offense against the Wolf Pack, who had three players rush for more than 170 yards. And remember Nevada was just 0-3 coming into the game. Imagine what will happen when BYU goes to Vegas this week. Maybe the Cougars will get 1,000 yards on Saturday . . .

So much for the National Championship hopes of Oklahoma. Before their Saturday night loss to Miami, I heard some national commentators talking about the Sooners having a chance for a national title despite their opening loss to BYU.

Miami's 21-20 victory ended that talk . . .

So much for the BCS hopes of the Houston Cougars. Did you see where they got smacked by Mike Price's UTEP team 58-41? The Miners were just 1-3 going into the game and had lost to Texas 64-7 the week before, but piled up 584 yards on the Cougars, who had 664 yards and 42 first downs of their own and still lost . . .

So much for Weber State's winning the FCS (Division I-AA) Championship this year. Sure the Wildcats can still make the playoffs, but they're not going far if they keep throwing games like they did Saturday against Montana State. That came on top of the throwaway loss at Colorado State last month . . .

So much for the genius of Andy Ludwig as Cal's offensive coordinator. Even though he was part of Utah's 13-0 season, Ludwig was never popular during his five-year stay in Salt Lake. Many feel he got out of town to get away from the constant sniping by Ute fans. He looked to be on top of the world when Cal was ranked No. 6 in the nation three weeks into the season, while averaging 49 points a game. However, the Bears have scored 3 points in each of the last two weeks in losses to Oregon and USC. Who knows if fireludwig.com sites have sprung up yet in Berkeley . . .

So much for Boise State playing in the National Championship game. The Broncos were leapfrogged by Virginia Tech in the rankings after BSU's less-than-impressive 34-16 win over UC-Davis, a 1-3 FCS team and that's bound to happen again. The score is deceiving, however, with a touchdown being tacked on in the final minute of the game -- by the Broncos. That's right, the Broncos took the ball with 3:48 left and rather than just running out the clock, threw two passes on first down, by their starting quarterback, and pushed in the score with 38 seconds left. Nice . . .

So much for the WAC's ESPN contract. Boise State won't play another normal Saturday game until Halloween. That's because they have one of those ESPN Wednesday night games against Tulsa on Oct. 14 with no games on the weekends on either side. Then they play at Hawaii in a game that begins after midnight in the East and late Saturday night around the rest of the country. In November, three of the Broncos' four games, including one at Utah State, will be played on Friday nights . . .

So much for Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount being suspended for the season. Coach Chip Kelly is considering lifting his suspension and allowing him to play starting in November if he fufills certain guidelines. Actually, I have no problem with this. Blount's tantrum was wrong, but to lose a whole season -- his senior season -- for a few minutes of anger doesn't seem quite right. Numerous college players, including some at our favorite local colleges, have done worse and only missed a game or a small portion of the season. Why not give this guy a bit of a break?